The Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) kicked off the organization’s 75th anniversary convention in Calgary earlier this week, paying tribute to the SAIT BXST (Broadcast Systems Technology) instructors.
The program, responsible for training hundreds of broadcast technicians now working across radio, TV, film, and manufacturing, fell to provincial budget cuts in 2020 after celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019.
In an impassioned tribute during Monday evening’s WABE Awards presentation, which was held alongside a SAIT BXST reunion, program graduate and Cisco Senior Solutions Engineer Chris Lapp told the audience that his time at SAIT was the foundation for everything he’s done since.
“It wasn’t just learning from a book, we were constantly troubleshooting, building things, soldering, configuring, designing signal paths and actually making systems work under pressure,” said Lapp. “That combination of theory and real world application is what made BXST so unique.”
“Honestly, the real impact wasn’t the technical side. It was the culture, the sense of community mentorship, the giving back is what really shaped me into who I became today,” he continued.
“This program didn’t just teach me how to build broadcast systems, it built me,” said Lapp, describing the program as “life-changing.”
BXST instructors in attendance, including Eugene Blanchard, Jonathan Hutchinson, Karl Grollmuss, Lubos Kuzma, Bill Kilgallon, and Garry Shepherd, were honoured with the R.W. Lamb Award, WABE’s highest honour, recognizing an individual whose personal achievements and contribution to the broadcast industry over their lifetime is outstanding.
Other WABE Award honourees, included Heather Best, who was recognized with the Sheila R. East Award, recognizing a woman whose outstanding level of professionalism, perseverance, and dedication has greatly benefitted the broadcast industry. Best is Engagement Manager at Calgary-based IT consulting firm, Diversified.
Golden West Broadcasting’s Tom Wiebe, who is based in Steinbach, MB, and Carey Downs, Technical Manager at Pattison Media Medicine Hat, were both presented with the Excellence in Engineering Award.
More WABE coverage to come.
